Safe in Your Arms
by Pianoninja
Summary: Just a scattering of moments throughout a Berena pregnancy, hopefully with some semblance of a plot line throughout. PURE BERENA FLUFF
1. Poorly

**Hey all, two uploads in a week! I know, madness.**

 **Anyway, I've developed a bit of a Berena shipping problem...and this is entirely the fault of CassidysPersona.**

 ** _Side note: I'm ignoring Jason's existence in this story, not because I don't think he's great, but he'd kind of get in the way of my fluff._**

"Well I suppose, but surely it would be better to do Mr Parsons' procedure first seeing as..." Serena Campbell paused suddenly, her face suddenly draining of all colour.

"Serena?" Berenice Wolfe looked at her colleague in concern, "are you ok?"

Serena looked back at the other woman with wide eyes, "I think I'm going to-" Serena's sentence was interrupted again as she felt the bile rising in her throat, and found herself dashing out of the door into the nearest toilet cubicle. Raf and Fletch were stood nearby as the consultant raced past.

"what the-?" Fletch began to query before being interrupted,

"Not a word you two." Bernie replied sternly before continuing down the corridor to chase after her friend.

Serena rocked back on her knees, breathing deeply as the feeling of nausea began to fade away. At this moment Bernie burst through the door, heading straight for the only occupied cubicle.

"Hey pal" she called through the thin wooden door, "open up will ya?" Serena leaned forward flushing the toilet, then got to her feet and opened the door to be greeted by a worried face.

"I'm fine." She stated, brushing past Bernie. The blonde woman circled back around to greet her colleague at the sinks,

"Evidently not" she contradicted. "Go home, you're not well." Serena turned and glared up at the other woman,

"I'm _fine._ " She tried to insist, as an unfortunately timed wave of nausea rose in her stomach. She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she tried to focus on a chipped piece of paint in the wall over Bernie's shoulder.

"No, you're really not" Bernie countered, taking her gently by the arm and leading her out of the toilets, "come on."

After a slow walk back to the office Bernie lead the pale looking consultant to sit on the sofa.

"I need to go and do the rounds" she announced, resting her hand gently on Serena's shoulder, "I won't be long. Do _not_ move."

Twenty minutes later Bernie re-entered the office to find Serena sitting at her desk, her eyelids falling intermittently as she tried to focus on the paper work piled in front of her.

"I thought I told you not to move" Bernie said, sweeping in and removing the papers from the desk. Serena huffed tiredly,

"I've got too much to do, I can't just sit around feeling sorry for myself all day!"

"Serena look at you, you're not in any state to be here. Go home, we'll be ok without you." Bernie said softly, squatting down in front of the consultant, grasping her hands gently, "and I'll even do your paper work for you." She added, with a twinkle in her eye. Serena smiled down at her friend and laughed,

"Now that is an offer I can't resist" she said tiredly. Bernie stood up from her position on the floor,

"So you'll go?" she asked hopefully. Serena also stood up from her chair, slowly gathering her belongings,

"Yeah ok...I do feel like shit to be honest."

"I'm not going to lie, you look it." Bernie said softly, passing the consultant her hand bag. "Go get some rest, I'll give you a ring later to see how you're feeling." She added, giving her a gentle squeeze with her arm around her shoulders, before opening the door and seeing her friend safely off the ward.

The rest of the day went by smoothly without any hitches...which is unusual for the normally manic AAU. Bernie returned to the empty office, thinking about her colleague and hoping she was feeling better, because the space felt lonely without her. As she collected her belongings and prepared to go home she turned her phone back on, assuming very little would have changed and nobody would have tried to contact her. On the way to her car she absent mindedly pulled the device out of her pocket and swiped across the screen to gain entry. As she did so the phone began to vibrate in her hand and she didn't hesitate in answering when the screen lit up with Serena's name and a rather unflattering picture from a drunken night in Albie's.

"Hey buddy, how're we feeling?" she greeted her friend cheerfully. There was nothing but silence for a moment before Bernie heard a sad sniffle. "Serena?" she spoke again softly, confused as to what could have happened.

"I.." Serena started quietly, unsure what to say. "Oh Bernie" she choked out, her voice catching on a sob.

"Hey sweetheart" Bernie had frozen still in the middle of the car park, her voice was gentle and calming, "what's the matter? You can tell me Serena." Serena took a deep breath on the other end of the phone, wishing she were closer to the consultant, just so she could feel her presence making everything ok.

"I don't understand how it happened" Serena spoke, in barely a whisper, "I don't know what to do." Bernie remained still in her confusion, feeling an innate need to be with the other woman. In a sudden moment of bravery, wanting nothing more than to go and protect the woman who made her fingertips tingle and her heart shudder with her presence, she offered,

"Do you want me to come over?" to which Serena replied quietly,

"...yeah...kinda."

Bernie's car screeched to a hault on the gravel drive, the journey from the hospital seeming to take hours. As she leaped out from behind the wheel and headed towards the house, the door opened revealing Serena, looking smaller than ever in her fluffy pyjamas with tears staining her pale face. When she saw her looking so scared Bernie couldn't help but dive forward at the woman, enveloping her in her big strong arms. She planted a soft kiss on the top of her fluffy brown hair, rubbing her back as she sobbed into the tall blonde consultant.

"Come on" Bernie whispered softly, ushering her back inside, through the hallway, and onto the sofa in her front room. Bernie wrapped her arms back around Serena, gently tracing up and down her shoulder with her thumb. Serena buried her head into the other woman's soft warm body, and the two stayed that way for a good while, wrapped in the safety of each other's embrace. After a few minutes Serena mumbled something incomprehensible.

"Pardon?" Bernie queried softly, peering down at the other woman. Serena lifted her head slightly, not making eye contact,

"I'm pregnant" she said almost silently, almost hoping it wouldn't be real if she didn't say it out loud.

After talking through the situation for a few hours the two women returned to silence. They had still barely moved from their earlier position where Bernie's strong arm was still comfortably draped around Serena's shoulder. Serena then turned her head upwards to look at the other woman,

"It's getting late, shouldn't you..." Serena's voice faded away as she took in the sleeping face of her colleague. In the commotion of everything she had almost forgotten that this woman had just done a full 12 hour shift before coming to her rescue. Serena smiled; she didn't want to move her just yet, so she snuggled back down into her arms and closed her eyes.

Around 3 am Serena awoke, with a crick in her neck. She turned around and in the darkness she was acutely aware of how awkwardly Bernie was laid on her sofa. Knowing that her back wasn't in the best state as it was she knew she should wake her up.

"Bernie" Serena whispered, gently brushing the blonde hair from her colleague's face. The sleeping woman slowly opened her eyes, taking a moment to realise her whereabouts. She sat forward slightly, groaning as she moved, her hand flying to the small of her back where the pain was located. "Come on, my memory foam mattress will sort you out love." Serena whispered, though she wasn't sure why as there was nobody else she had to worry about waking up. She took Bernie's hand in hers and led her silently up her staircase. Bernie only then realised she was still fully dressed, but being too tired to care she happily threw her clothes off, crawling under the duvet in just her shirt and underwear. Serena smiled as she could scarcely believe the turn the day had taken; who knew that a discussion about Mr Parsons' spleen could end with the woman of her dreams in her bed.


	2. Archie

_**'ello my lovelies! Again, I'm sorry for the delay; between working, socialising, dealing with my father, and preparing to move out I just haven't even got time to sneeze. Either way, I hope this makes up for my lack of presence - enjoy!**_

Serena awoke early to the sound of Bernie's breathing in her ear, a warm smile spreading across her face as she realised who the soft breathy noises were coming from. Knowing the pair didn't need to be in work for another couple of hours Serena climbed slowly out of bed, being careful not to interrupt the woman's slumber, and made her way quietly downstairs. Padding across the laminate kitchen floor, Serena flicked on the kettle and knelt down in front of the fridge looking for the ingredients to create her envisaged scene of pure domestic bliss for her house guest.

Bernie woke with heavy eyes, struggling to pull herself out of her cosy night's sleep, almost happy for the warm bed to swallow her back up. As she forced her eyelids open she shook off the feeling of disorientation at being in the unusual surroundings, scanning around the room slowly. Before it dawned on her what was missing she heard a familiar sound from downstairs in the otherwise silent house. Bernie slipped almost silently from the crisp covers and dashed downstairs, following the source of the noise. She poked her head around the door to the downstairs bathroom, approaching the hunched over form of Serena and rubbing her back gently, whispering soft encouragement over the sound of her retching into the porcelain bowl. As she sat back up, leaning up against the whitewashed wall, Bernie handed her some tissue. Wordlessly, Bernie gave a gentle squeeze to her shoulder and nipped out into the kitchen. She came back swiftly into the room with a clear cool glass of water and handed it to Serena, gently supporting her shaky hands to take a sip.

"Did I wake you?" the consultant asked quietly, breathing deeply as she did. Bernie shook her head gently, and couldn't help the sparkling smile that crossed her lips at the other woman's concern, even when she was the one who needed looking after. The pair sat on the floor together for a while, a kind gentle hand held between them. Bernie grimaced and held a puzzled look as a strong smell assaulted her senses,

"Can you smell burning?" she offered to her friend, the sentence barely out of her mouth when the smoke alarm began to blare loudly and intrusively, leading Serena to leap off of the floor where she had landed and race off towards the noise. Bernie entered the kitchen to the sight of Serena with a red tea towel in her hand, wafting away a thick cloud of smoke around the oven.

Amidst the drama, Bernie pulled a chair from the dining room table and stood on it in order to reach up and silence the loud, offending object on the ceiling. After returning the wooden chair to its place Bernie placed a comforting hand on Serena's shoulder, taking the tea towel gently from her grip. Tears glistened in her eyes and her bottom lip wobbled, reminding Bernie of her little girl as a toddler not getting her own way.

"Hey" she spoke gently, leading the woman to sit down. "It's all going to be ok lovely." Serena's breathing was ragged as she sobbed in an undignified manner,

"I'm sorry...I..I just...j-just wanted t...t-to m-m-make you breakfast...t-t-o say thank you..."

"Oh sweetie," Bernie ran her soft hands along the other woman's arms, "you didn't need to do that. You should be resting, and looking after yourself." Serena pulled her knees up to her chest, and buried her pale face in her cold shaking hands,

"Oh god Bern I'm such a mess" she sobbed uncontrollably at the other medic.

"No you're not" the blonde stood up and stroked Serena's hair gently. Taking her hands in her own, she pulled her up from the hard wooden chair. "Now, go get yourself a shower and I'll tidy up in here, then we can grab something on the way to work, yeah?" Serena nodded, brushing the tears away from her cheeks and heading upstairs.

The pair sat in Bernie's car silently. As they came to a stop at a red light Bernie turned momentarily to look at her companion,

"So...are you going to tell Robbie?" Serena's face suddenly looked overcome with sadness as she contemplated the answer to this question. She nodded slowly,

"Yeah, I guess I'll phone him or something." As she brought the clutch up to the bite and the car began to move forwards Bernie gave the other woman's shoulder a comforting squeeze. For the rest of the journey, they returned to silence, Bernie glancing over at her colleague intermittently as she sat looking off into the distance.

When they got to the hospital Serena muttered something about paperwork and shuffled off quickly up to the ward.

Sitting amongst mounds of papers Serena heard a brisk knock on the door and turned to see Bernie walk in backwards, pushing the door with her bum, holding pastries in one hand and a tray containing two cardboard cups in the other.

"Right," she began, placing the goodies on her desk. "I got croissants and fruit, and I went with lemon and ginger tea." Serena looked up and raised a puzzled eyebrow at her blonde friend. "Well caffeine's off the menu for obvious reasons, and I thought ginger might help with the morning sickness; I used to get awful travel sickness when I was young, so my Dad used to give me a ginger biscuit before every car or bus journey" she explained, standing up and carrying the beverage over to her office buddy. Serena flashed her a brief smile and nodded thanks as she sniffed the unusual concoction warily.

An hour later Serena walked onto the ward to be met by a panicked call from Fletch,

"Can we get some help over here please!" He was kneeling down next to a small pale boy with chestnut brown hair who lay on the floor clutching his stomach with tears streaming down his face. Serena raced over as a knot of worry formed in her chest. The small being flinched violently as the consultant reached out to offer her calming touch.

"Hey there sweetie, I'm Serena." she announced softly, her words met with a pair of glossy brown eyes opening in front of her, "can you tell me your name lovely?" The boy clamped his eyes tightly shut again, Serena looked to Fletch for some idea.

"This is Archie" he began to explain, "his mum's in surgery for an emergency ileostomy and we're waiting on grandma to pick him up." Serena nodded understandingly, knowing that as a single parent it wasn't difficult to make sure someone could always be there.

"Hi Archie," Serena began again. "Can you tell me where it hurts?" Archie didn't react. "Is it your tummy?" she asked, looking at his small hunched over form. He offered her a small nod. "Would you mind if I had a little look?" she asked further, looking over at Fletch. The boy nodded once more as Fletch explained,

"Ok, we're just going to get you into a bed and Miss Campbell can have a little look at your tummy", scooping the boy into his arms and lifting him onto the bed. Quickly, Serena nipped across to a nearby trolley, digging out a box of latex gloves to pull onto her hands. At this moment the doors to AAU swung open and Ms Wolfe trotted across towards her colleague with a grin on her face, taking Serena by the arm and pulling her to one side.

"Guess where I've just been!" she beamed excitedly. Serena was, however, less than interested as she looked across the ward to check on the small boy in her care.

"What?" she queried disinterestedly, "where?" Bernie looked slightly disheartened but continued anyway, hoping her news might change Serena's mood.

"I just went to see Mr Thompson, and I-" Serena interrupted the other woman briskly,

"Who?... Oh look, Bernie, can this wait? Only, I have a patient to deal with." Serena turned and went to walk back towards Archie, only to feel an arm on her shoulder, spinning her back around.

"I booked you a scan!" Bernie exclaimed, "this afternoon – 3:30 in Obs and Gynae." Serena flashed a wide-eyed glare back at her,

"You what?" she hissed, making up the space between the pair.

"I...well I" Bernie stuttered as Serena turned back around, fuming as she said through gritted teeth

"You had no right. I need to go and treat my patient", and stormed off towards the bed.

Serena pulled up little Archie's orange t-shirt t reveal his pale thin torso which was spattered with angry patches of purples, and blues, and browns, and greens.

"Archie?" she looked up at the little boy who was hiding his face in his hands, "do you know how you got these bruises sweetheart?" Chestnut locks bounced as he shook his head silently. Serena threw Fletch a look to which he also replied with a shake of his head. The consultant sighed and looked back at the young boy. "Ok, that doesn't matter for now" she offered softly, noticing the evident release of tension in his shoulders. "Is it ok if I just give your tummy a little feel?" Archie peered over the top of his fingertips, nodding his head at Serena. As she gently felt around the boy's abdomen she felt a quiet wave of nausea rising in her own stomach, concerned for this little boy's safety. Suddenly, as her gloved hands pressed softly towards his left-hand side he let out a squeal and quickly and violently curled up into a tight ball. Serena placed her hand on his back lovingly,

"Ok sweetie, we'll sort you out." She turned to Fletch and very certainly stated: "we need a scan asap, I think he's got a ruptured spleen." He nodded in return as she turned to walk away. Three steps later she turned back and whispered quietly, "and phone social services."

Serena walked back to the office to find Bernie sat at her desk quietly doing her paperwork. She closed the door behind her rather loudly and closed all the surrounding blinds. Bernie put her pen down and leant back in her chair, looking directly at Serena,

"well?"

"What the hell Bernie!? I haven't even known about this for 24 hours and you're practically assembling the cot already!" The blonde closed her eyes and exhaled slowly,

"I'm sorry Rena, I didn't think of it like that. Will you please go for the scan, though? It might help you decide what you're going to do." Serena walked towards the other woman and perched on her desk, looking down into her apologetic eyes.

"I'm going to, I always was. Just talk to me next time yeah?" The brunette squeezed Bernie's shoulder gently as she spoke. Just then there was a knock at the office door and Fletch peered his head around,

"Sorry ladies, the social worker's here, mum's out of the theatre, and Archie's scan came back fine. I think he would like you to be there" he said hurriedly, looking at Serena.

Serena walked out onto the ward towards the small chestnut haired boy and took his small cold hand in hers.

"Hey there buddy" she spoke softly, "You're mum's just come out of theatre, she'll be awake soon." Archie's demeanour visibly changed at the mention of his mother, he removed his hand quickly from Serena's and tucked his knees up to his chest so he was as small as he could be. "Hey," Serena placed her hand softly on his shoulder, "What's the matter, Archie? Don't you want to see your mum?" She was sure she knew exactly why but she was making sure she was careful with her choice of words in order to best safeguard this child. Archie sat quietly for a long moment, chewing viciously at the skin on his lip. He took a slow deep breath filling his chest as though this was his last lung full. A single tear escaped from his deep brown eyes as a small scared voice muttered,

"she hits me." This single acknowledgement was followed by an onset of huge floods of tears flowing down his cheeks between huge gasping sobs. Serena wrapped her arms tightly around him, desperately trying to ignore the returning wave of nausea overflowing her body.

After three hours sat with the young boy and the duty social worker Kelly, Serena saw him off in the car to a foster family where he would be the only placement and could receive all the love and nurturing he needed. As soon as the silver Renault rounded the corner and could no longer be seen Serena began to slowly make her way up the stairs back to her office. She barely made it through the door before she was overcome with a wave of emotion, collapsing on her knees into Bernie's arms, sobbing uncontrollably, only moving to reach for the bin to vomit into while Bernie rubbed her back gently. After a while Serena's cries silenced and the two were left sat on the floor, limbs intertwined. Serena looked at Bernie, then looked up at the clock which read '3:20pm', and almost leaped up off the floor. Bernie looked back up at her in confusion as she reached her hand out to help the other woman up. As she stood up Serena linked her arm tightly and passed her hand bag,

"Come on Major, I do believe Mr T is expecting us."


	3. Report

**I'm just going to apologise for this from the off. I got gradually more intoxicated as I wrote this so it's likely to be awful - sorry!**

"Where is it?" Serena asked herself as she hurried past Bernie, turning over every piece of paper in the office. "Where is it? Where is it? Where the fuck is it!?" Bernie flicked her eyes up briefly from her computer screen,

"What are you looking for?" she asked, eye line back on the word document she was typing up.

"The report!" she exclaimed, turning over every piece of paper in a pile up to her waist. Bernie continued typing as she half-heartedly asked,

"What report?"

"The one on the leak Bernie! The one I've spent the last month writing, where the hell is it?" Serena's panicked voice finally captured Bernie's full attention, as she knew how stressed she was about this whole situation without bringing the pregnancy into it.

"Ok well just calm down, when was the last time you saw it?" she asked softly, standing up from her desk chair and walking towards the other woman. Serena raked her hands through her hair and exhaled anxiously as she lowered herself slowly into her own seat. "I don't know, I printed it out last night before I left but I can't remember where I put it, and I'm supposed to be in a meeting with Hanssen in ten minutes but I can't go without this stupid bloody report, and I'm so tired I feel like I can hear my own eye bags!" Bernie walked over to where the brunette was sitting with her head in her hands, and placed her own hands on her tense shoulders as she knelt down in front of her.

"Ok. Just take a deep breath and chill out for a minute," she advised calmly as she scanned around the room for the report.

"Bernie I can't, I don't have the time to chill out! If I'm not at this meeting he will eviscerate me and hang my intestine up around his office for everyone to see, but actually, that might not be so bad because at least if I'm dead I won't be throwing up every five minutes." As she listened to her very anxious and stressed friend her eyes settled on something in the corner of the room. On top of the little grey printer was a stack of papers, kept together with a paper clip. Bernie stood back up from her crouched position and strode over to pick up the pile. Once she had confirmed it was in fact what she hoped it was she returned the document to Serena and explained,

"I remember now; you were clipping it together when you ran off to throw up and then you felt so ill I got your handbag and sent you straight home." Serena's eyes widened as she remembered the events of the evening before.

"Right I need to get to this meeting like..." Serena looked up at the clock "three minutes ago oh shit" and then went to practically run out of the shared office.

As she reached the double doors out of AAU towards the stairwell Serena almost collided head on with another person.

"Will you watch where y-" she stopped suddenly as she looked up from the pile of paperwork she was sorting through as she walked, and clocked the face atop the body she nearly walked into.

"Hi Serena" Robbie spoke softly, his deep voice bringing back all the feelings she thought she had ditched when he left. Instinctively she brought her hand to her belly, the sudden realisation that she was going to have to tell him, hitting her with brute force.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she forced out in barely a whisper, desperately trying to keep the tears from welling in her eyes. Abruptly coming back to reality Serena returned to her earlier task and went to walk through the doors she had been stood in front of. Robbie grabbed her arm as she went to leave, eyes widening in fear as she growled back at him with much more confidence, "I have a meeting to get to. Get your hands off me, I'm pregnant." and returned to her walk up the stairs to Hanssen's office, desperately trying to ignore all the thoughts and feelings in her head and the ever present nausea swirling in her stomach.

Three brisk knocks on the wooden door were responded to by Henrik Hanssen's stern voice,

"Come in." Serena took a deep breath and entered in haste. "Ahh Ms Campbell, nice of you to join us at last" Hanssen's face was deadpan as he greeted the consultant. Serena kept quiet and sat in the single seat at a table facing opposite Hanssen, and two board members.

"One time Henrik! How on earth was I supposed to know that would be the day someone decided to steal my car?" Serena was becoming infuriated with the CEO's line of questioning.

"Ms Campbell, the point is the press want someone to blame and I can't have it be me. Now if you'll excuse me, this will have to continue at a later date; I have another meeting to get to." Hanssen stood up and walked over to the office door in order to let Serena out. As she crossed the doorway she turned back to face Hanssen.

"I just want this to be over" she announced, her voice thick with emotion as he vision began to cloud.

"As I thought Ms Campbell, but your tardiness today suggests otherwise," Hanssen replied, moving to close the door between them. Serena took a deep breath and stepped backwards, blinking furiously to clear her vision. Through gritted teeth she replied,

"The reason I was late is I was searching for that ridiculous report you made me compose. I stayed here so late finishing it last night that Ms Wolfe had to practically force me out of the building and by this morning I-" Serena stopped momentarily, closing her eyes, trying to regain her composure as her legs fell weak. Her heart was racing against the wall of her chest as Henrik Hanssen called her name in confusion.

"I-" she tried to continue her sentence but as she felt the bile rising in her throat her mind was overcome by darkness and she fell to the floor at the CEO's feet.

"Serena?" Bernie's voice was barely a whisper as her friend and colleague was wheeled on to AAU with Hanssen at her feet. "What the hell happened?" Hanssen looked at the Major,

"She fainted outside my office. Heart rate is fast and she hasn't regained consciousness. Bernie was suddenly in an impossible situation, the debate going on her head felt like hours of strung out indecision, but three seconds later she announced,

"She's pregnant; we need to get her up to obs and gyne, now!"

"Hey honey" Serena awoke feeling groggy, conscious of the slender fingers wrapped around her own hand.

"Wh-?" She went to sit up rapidly, confusion dancing in her eyes but Bernie placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as she explained,

"You fainted. Mr T has checked everything over and baby is fine, but your blood pressure's a little too high so he's going to keep you in overnight." The brunette consultant relaxed wearily back into the pillow before her colleague began speaking again. "Serena I went to your house to pick up an overnight bag," Serena's eyes widened as she remembered the state of her home over the past few weeks. Bernie took her hand gently between her own fingers again, "Don't worry, I understand. Listen though, I was thinking; maybe I could come and stay with you for a few weeks, just until the morning sickness wears off at least, then we could take it from there." A sweet smile graced the other woman's face, as for the first time in weeks she felt safe and loved. As Serena began to drift off back to sleep, a sudden thought crossed Bernie's mind.

"Oh, by the way, I saw Robbie earlier" she stated absently. Suddenly Serena sat bolt upright in bed,

"Me too! I told him I'm pregnant and then disappeared upstairs," she announced, giggling slightly at the memory, and the look on Bernie's face.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **R x**


	4. Frustrated

**I'm not going to bother to apologise, you expect it now anyway. I've been busy doing a degree, I'm sure that's a good excuse ;)**

 **Anyway, I've been a bit sad and this is the one thing that made me happy today so I tried to write some fluffy smutty Berena-ness.**

 **Enjoy!**

"Urrrgh!" Serena groaned, frustrated, throwing her phone down on the kitchen counter, and began pacing around the room, hands shaking, running her fingers through her short brown hair. Bernie looked over from where she was stood by the kettle making tea for the pair, and took a few steps closer to the other woman, giving her a concerned look. "That's another 17 missed calls, 10 text messages, and 3 voicemails all from Robbie." She sighed, continuing to pace anxiously.

"Well to be fair, you did drop some pretty big new on him. He's bound to want to speak to you." Bernie said, turning back to the kettle as it came to the boil.

"Alright Wolfe, get off your moral high horse, would you? At least I haven't run off to another country to hide from a bloke like some people." Serena spat back angrily, glaring at her friend. Bernie felt a momentary pang of hurt whenever her friend spoke to her like this, but it was becoming more of a regular thing and she was putting it down to the cocktail of hormones waging havoc in the surgeon's body.

"I'm just saying, it's been over a week, perhaps now's the time to talk to him. Just drop him a text and say you'll meet him for coffee." The major suggested carefully, adding "I'll come with you if you want." Serena swiped her battered iPhone back from where she discarded it and quickly typed out a message as she said,

"I'll be fine on my own thanks. I got myself into this situation by myself, so I'll get myself out of it." then thrust the phone into her pocket. Bernie placed a warm cup of lemon and ginger tea in front of the irate woman and sat down on a stool across from her, quietly flicking through the morning news on her own phone.

Bernie quietly walked into the shared office, keeping the other woman in her peripheral vision. She couldn't help but notice how distracted she seemed, staring just off the page she was supposed to be writing on at a spot on the wooden desk, and how much she was fidgeting; crossing and uncrossing her legs, and chewing her finger nails. Bravely Bernie piped up and questioned

"Did you text Robbie?" Serena didn't look up from her spot on the table, and just said shortly,

"I'm meeting him in my lunch break." Bernie smiled slightly, glad it was being sorted, and kindly added,

"I can cover for you if you need a bit longer." Serena exhaled slowly, and after scribbling something else on the form she was filling in, replied

"no thank you, it won't take long." After this the two women remained almost silent for the rest of the time they were in the office doing paperwork.

Around an hour later there was a knock at the door, and at Bernie's instruction to 'come in' (which earned her another irate sigh from her colleague), Fletch popped his head round the door.

"Sorry to bother you ladies, could one of you take this patient for me, he's a bit urm… difficult. I didn't want to land either of the juniors with him." Serena made no attempt to move, continuing to stare at her spot on the table, so with a sigh Bernie agreed and followed Fletch out of the office.

The pair walked over to the bay where an older, portly gentleman lay. He was dressed in smart business attire and there were beads of sweat clinging to his pale skin as they made their way down his balding head.

"Oh there he is, our Nancy, who's this lovely lady you've brought for me then? One of your nurse pals?" The man said loudly, causing Bernie to roll her eyes. Fletch sighed and said to Bernie,

"This is Mr Aldridge, 57, collapsed at work earlier today, sent up from the ED with a suspected stomach ulcer." Fletch then looked over to the balding man and explained, "Mr Aldridge this is Ms Wolfe she's a consultant here on AAU and she'll be treating you." The man's eyes widened visibly and his forehead wrinkled as a frown appeared on his sweaty face.

"'ang on a minute. She's my doctor? No way, she looks more like a catalogue model!" Bernie stepped towards the bed and washed her hands with the antibacterial gel at the end.

"Well I guess touring in Afghanistan can do that for a girl" she said sarcastically. She didn't often like to play the army card with patients but this one needed to know that she was as good, maybe even better, than any male in that hospital. "I'm just going to examine your abdomen if that's alright, then I'll ask you to get into a gown for me." the consultant said, once again stepping closer to the bed. Mr Aldridge pulled his blazer as far as he could around his bulging stomach,

"What? No bloomin' way! A bloke nurse and a dyke army doctor? You've got to be kiddin' me pal." the man continued to speak loudly, only addressing Fletch. Bernie felt the rage bubbling in her stomach but calmly told him

"Mr Aldridge, I will not have you using that kind of discriminatory language on my ward. I'm afraid It's either me or my colleague Ms Campbell. So what's it to be?" The man scowled at Bernie before conceding,

"Fine, but he stays the whole time." he said gesturing to Fletch.

Later that afternoon Bernie stormed into the office, slamming the door behind her. Serena sighed,

"Jesus woman, do you have to make such an entrance?" Bernie didn't even register her friend's annoyance at her, instead beginning to explain her anger,

"I am treating the most sexist, chauvinistic, homophobic excuse for a male I have ever encountered. He calls Fletch 'Nancy' because he thinks Nursing is a female's job, and seems to think that I'm some neo Nazi feminist lesbian with a hatred towards men." Serena barely acknowledged her friend's ranting, instead biting her lip as she continued to stare at the wall in front of her. Bernie sat down at her desk and clocked the time from her computer screen. "Oh shit Serena, sorry, how did it go with Robbie?" The other consultant shrugged and mumbled,

"Yeah alright I guess." Bernie didn't know what else to say to this, and didn't want to push it in case she annoyed her again. Besides, she was sure she'd tell her all about it later.

Once Mr Aldridge had been prescribed some antibiotics and PPIs for his stomach ulcer, Fletch was able to very quickly discharge him. On his way off the ward the man walked over to the Nurse's station where Fletch and Bernie were sitting.

"Hey Nancy, thanks for all your help mate. No hard feelings eh? I reckon you've made a smart choice here, these Nurse birds are pretty good eye candy." the plump man said to Fletch, offering him a hand shake. Before turning to leave he winked at Bernie and added, "See you love. Give us a ring if you ever fancy batting for the other team eh." and trudged off the ward. Bernie turned to Fletch wide-eyed, and squeaked,

"Can you bloody well believe him!" and Fletch shook his head in reply.

"Some people will just never change. Anyway, for what it's worth I reckon he just needs a good shag, …maybe you should take him up on his offer!" Fletch laughed, earning himself an elbow in the ribs and a smile from the Major. Then something suddenly clicked in her brain, and she found herself with an idea. An hour later when her shift ended Bernie headed back to Serena's where she would already be, having finished a few hours earlier. She couldn't help but smile to herself as she plotted in the car on her way there.

Bernie and Serena sat on the sofa with a mug of hot chocolate in their hands and something rubbish on the tv, though neither of them were really paying any attention to it. Serena was still uncharacteristically quiet, and kept biting her lip and fidgeting. Bernie was glad she'd thought to slip a dash of brandy into her own drink, because she felt like she would need some Dutch courage now.

"So, are you going to tell me how it went with Robbie?" she asked, holding her breath as she expected the usual angry reply. Serena sighed, placing her cup on the table in front of her.

"It was fine, but I'm pretty sure he really hates me now. He called me selfish for not getting back to him sooner and to be fair he's probably right."

"Hey Campbell, cut yourself some slack you were in hospital after all." Bernie replied, knowing the woman sat next to her was the least selfish person she'd ever met.

"Yeah maybe" Serena said, not very convincingly. "Anyway, he said he's done his parenting duties with his kids and doesn't want to do it again." Bernie caught the last little bit of hope fade from Serena's eyes has she said this out loud. "but heck he'll try to send a crappy card and a tenner on birthdays" she added, with a smile that didn't quite reach her sparkling eyes.

"Fuck him." The blonde replied, then stopped herself. "or actually don't because that's how you got to this point in the first place" to which Serena replied with a small chuckle. "What I'm trying to say is that you don't need him, you were an amazing mum to Elinor, and I have no doubt that you're going to be just as incredible with this little one." Serena smiled but said nothing else, the situation returning to silence and the sound of the tv again.

After a few minutes Serena piped up again,

"Bern?" she said, a soft request for her friend's attention. Bernie nodded, and looked at her expectantly. Serena took a deep breath in and then exhaled slowly, "I'm sorry I've been a bit of a grumpy cow bag the last few days. I guess it's hormones, and I've been more worried about Robbie than perhaps I let on." Bernie sat forward and placed her cup on the table next to Serena's, then shuffled closer to her – it was now or never.

"You don't need to apologise sweetheart, you've been through a lot this last week. Also, I've been there, I know hormones are a bitch." She said softly, taking Serena's hand in her own, rubbing circles with her thumb on her palm. Serena's breathing quickened, and a blush rose in her cheeks. Bernie could feel her own heart hammering against her chest as she moved even close to the other woman and began gently stroking her hair. "I have another theory as to your mood lately." Serena looked at the other woman confused, though her chest was still rising and falling rapidly. Bernie moved again, closing the last of the small gap between them, before whispering in the brunette's ear "You're frustrated." Almost in sync the two women turned to face each other, their lips planted together in a fiery and passionate kiss. Hands began to roam to new places, caressing freckled skin hidden under clothing unmoved by another soul for a long while. Serena's hand reached bravely out and began to unbutton Bernie's blouse. The other woman parted from their kiss breathlessly, and made an unspoken suggestion to the brunette as she bit at the skin on her own lips. The two women leapt off the sofa and raced upstairs hand in hand, Bernie climbing over Serena's glorious body as she lay a top the bed. Soon clothes were being strewn from where they had been placed over untouched skin. Serena's hands were roaming, exploring every inch of the other woman, as though she needed to take it all in before it was ripped away from her. Bernie planted soft kisses down her colleague's breasts, slowly but certainly journeying down, stopping on the way to allow her tongue to dance expertly across the right nipple. Gasps of pleasure were being emitted from Serena, and the smile on her face made Bernie's heart sing. Bernie's tongue continued its journey down the path of the other woman's body, tasting every inch of her delectable skin. She peppered light sweet kisses down her thighs, dancing cheekily around her destination. Suddenly the tongue reached the spot where Serena had been anticipating, causing fireworks to shoot off through her body, waves of ecstasy passing through her brain. Bernie's tongue expertly lapped, and tickled, as she felt the wave rising in the brunette's body. Almost too soon, before Bernie had had her fun, she brought Serena to an awe-inspiring climax. She was quiet, only emitting a small gasp, but her body was screaming in delight, hips bucking against the bed, toes curling into the duvet.

When both women had caught their breath, and Bernie made her way back up the bed to lay next to Serena, they looked at each other, the street light peeking through the crack in the curtains just enough to make out each other's faces. Serena sighed contently,

"If this is what happens, I think I'm going to be grumpy more often!" she laughed, eliciting a smug chuckle from Bernie.

In turn Serena, with dancing slender fingers and a magic touch brought the blonde to the brink of screaming in delight. Then held her softly as she tumbled over the edge, in a stream of pleasure, scarcely believing what was happening. The two women eventually felt the cool of the night air, and climbed under the duvet together. Serena snuggled in close to the army medic, her head tucked under the other woman's chin, feeling strong protective arms wrap around her. Serena felt happy and safe, and as they lay together, an entanglement of limbs and love, neither of them ever wanted the night to end.

 **Phew! I'm feeling a bit hot and steamy after writing that...I might have to go take a cold shower ;)**


	5. What now?

**Hey gang,**

 **I didn't originally plan to write this chapter but I figured that given the huge development in their relationship in the previous one they should probably sit down and have a grown up conversation. So yeah, bit boring probably but kinda cute. I promise I'll actually get back to focusing on the pregnancy in the next one.**

 **Also TRIGGER WARNING for panic attacks towards the end. I know that sometimes reading about or even talking about them can trigger me sometimes so don't read that far if you're susceptible. I'll put a little ! in just before and after that section.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

Bernie awoke from a deep sleep and she felt strange. Her sleep befuddled brain couldn't work out exactly what was wrong but something felt weird. She stretched her long arms out slowly and rolled over, making it all the way to the other side of the bed. 'Huh. Odd...' She thought. Slowly she opened her eyes, blinking in the shaft of sunlight which peeked through the curtains. She lolled her head to the side to peek at the clock, which flashed back '6:00' in obnoxious green numbers. Just two hours until she needed to be in for her shift. With... Serena! She allowed her head to fall to the other side - no sign. Where was Serena? She cast her mind back to the events of the night before, and smiled, and rosy blush creeping across her pales cheeks. Her smile then quickly turned to a frown.

Meanwhile, the dark haired member of the duo sat in the kitchen at the breakfast bar, her hands wrapped around a warm mug of peppermint tea. Her mind was tumbling over and over like a mouse in a washing machine; so many thoughts that she just couldn't quite get a hold of. She heard footsteps from above which alerted to the fact that her friend was awake. Friend? Perhaps not the right label anymore. Lover? Occasional fuck buddy? They'd have to work that one out. The footsteps, quick and light, moved across overhead towards the ensuite bathroom. After a while she heard the toilet chain flush and the running of the water from the tap. Then a click of the lock on the bathroom door before the footsteps came downstairs, getting louder as they announced the other woman's pending arrival.

Serena quickly stood up and turn away, busying herself boiling the kettle and making another cup of tea for her...her Bernie. The blonde wandered sleepily into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. Serena couldn't resist just peaking at her from the corner of her eye; she looked warm and snuggly and she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around her and bury her face in the soft messy blon- she quickly turned her attention back to the kettle.

"Mmmm morning" Bernie mumbled, sleepy but also cautious of the other woman's hormone driven mood. Serena plastered a bright smile on her face,

"Morning love! You alright?" she replied cheerfully. Bernie nodded a response and sat down at the breakfast bar, opposite where Serena had just vacated.

"Sooooo" she pondered out loud, stretching the word out, not quite wanting it to end. "Last night?" She questioned.

"Mm?" Serena replied, trying to sound cool and uninterested. A sadness then crept into Bernie's eyes, feeling that she loved this woman a lot more than was reciprocated.

"What are you doing this evening?" Bernie asked hopefully.

"Urm" Serena felt her heart rate quicken. "I think I'm going to stay behind for a couple of hours to help Jas. She's got that exam on Monday and I think she's stressing a bit."

"Oh" Bernie sighed, "I guess I'll see you when you come home then."

"Yeah" Serena replied, "I shouldn't be too long. There's some macaroni cheese in the freezer you can have for your tea if you want." She then placed a warm cup of tea in front of the other women and watched how she smiled as she wrapped her hands around the mug and inhaled the peppermint aroma, then realised she was staring and sat back down to her own cup. The two women were used to sitting in companionable silence, but this was different, it was awkward. There were words unspoken between them and neither knew how to broach the subject. Finally, after a few long minutes, when Serena had drained the rest of the tea from her cup, she announced

"I'm going to go and grab a shower." Bernie nodded in reply and listened to her footsteps as she made her way up. She then placed her cup on the table, and then her head. Hitting her forehead repeatedly against the hard surface in dismay.

"You stupid bloody woman" she told herself under her breath. Berenice Wolfe has seen many things. She has been in third world countries in the middle of war zones watching young men having limbs blown off. It takes very little to scare Berenice Wolfe but this has done it. She's terrified she's going to lose the first person she's ever really truly loved and cared about. So now Bernie will do what Bernie does best; she will retreat and put on a stoic impression, and continue going about life as though everything is fine.

The two women arrive at work in Bernie's car and begin walking towards the entrance. As they approach the lift Serena announces

"Ooh I need to go and see Hanssen!" To which Bernie looks puzzled. "Maternity leave arrangements" she explains, answering the unasked question. "You go ahead, I'll be along shortly." and she places a quick kiss on the other woman's cheek as she heads away towards the stair case. Bernie watches her walk away before getting into the lift, ignoring the painful longing in her heart. She steps onto AAU and the ward is chaotic. There's a young girl screaming in bay 4 and Fletch is yelling for a crash team from ITU. Without even thinking about changing into her scrubs she runs over to him to help. The patient; a young boy not much older than Cameron. He's been involved in a high speed RTC and his internal injuries are unimaginable, and honestly nobody thinks he's going to make it but damn she tries her hardest anyway. By the time they finally call it her arms are burning with the ache in her muscles, and she feels the emotion welling up inside her. As quickly as she can she retreats to her office and sits at her desk, allowing herself a moment of grief. For the patient that she's lost, but also for the love and friendship that she feels she's losing. Serena walks in just moments later, immediately clocking the redness of her colleague's eyes and her tear stained cheeks. She's obviously concerned and straight away rushes over to her.

"Bernie my love, what's happened?" Serena very rarely sees her big macho army medic cry so this worried her greatly. Bernie shrugs and bats the tears away from her eyes,

"It's nothing" she sniffs "just lost a patient, same ages as Cam; never a great way to start the shift." Serena places her hand on Bernie's arm, a comforting gesture, and sighs

"Yeah. I'm sure you did all that you could though." It's a bit of a stock phrase but it does help. However this is also a reminder that no matter how hard you try you don't always get the outcome that you want. The two women then sit in silence again for a while, but it's comfortable. However Serena then remembers that her hand is still sitting on Bernie's lower arm and quickly swipes it away, noticing the tension which immediately returns to the other woman's shoulders. Serena stands up and takes a step backwards,

"I need to go and… well y'know, work. Are you going to be ok?" she asks gently. Bernie nods in reply,

"I'll be out in a minute."

From that moment they share the day only gets busier; there's a bus crash and they have at least another 15 patients transferred up from the ED, all with a number of injuries which varied in severity. The two surgeons begin to feel like there should be a revolving door on the theatre with the amount they're both rushing in and out with different patients. By the end of their shift they're completely exhausted and both slump down in the chairs behind their desks.

"Bloody hell" Bernie sighs, "what a day." Serena laughs,

"I second that one" then throws her head backwards. "Urghhhh" she groans.

"What's up chuck?" Bernie queries. Serena looks across to her

"I promised I'd tutor Jas tonight didn't I." Bernie shakes her head

"I'd give that one a miss if I were you. I saw her on my way in here and she looked shattered, send the poor thing home." Serena then nods back,

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea. We've all had a long day." Then Bernie stands up from her chair and announces,

"I'll go get our bags while you go and talk to Jasmine. I'll meet you by the car."

Ten minutes later and they both climb into Bernie's little car and the short journey is almost silent as both sit lost in their thoughts. As they pull into the driveway it is to Bernie's surprise that it's Serena that finally initiates the conversation.

"Bernie love?" she questions, asking for her attention. Bernie steals a quick glance at the other woman before diverting her eyes back to the road ahead, expectantly waiting for what she has to say. "I think we need to talk about last night." **(!)** Bernie feels her breath catch in her throat as she feels that this is the moment she's going to lose everything she has with Serena. She's not ready, she thought she was but now she just can't handle it. All of a sudden she feels as though her chest is caving in on her and she can't breathe. She flings open the car door and steps out, gasping for the cool air outside. She's almost on auto pilot now as she doesn't even notice Serena getting out of the car and circling round it to be next to her, placing her hand gently on the woman's back.

"hey what's all this about?" she asks, concerned. Meanwhile Bernie is hyperventilating next to her, gasping for breath. "Come on sweetheart just try and take some deep breaths for me." Serena recognises the other woman's panic attack for what it is. "You're going to be ok" she reassures her. She encourages Bernie to sit down on the door step and gently rubs her back, she talks to her softly as the panic begins to ebb away, reminding her that she's here and she's safe. **(!)** Then all of a sudden Bernie can't hold in the tears any longer. Serena sweetly tucks a stray strand of blonde hair behind the other woman's ear and gently wipes the tears from her cheeks. She stands up from her seat on the step and offers her hand. They slowly walk together inside the house and she sits Bernie on the sofa, quickly retrieving a glass of water from the kitchen and handing it to her. "Come on love talk to me, tell me what's going on in your head" she encourages her, desperate to know how to help.

"I…" she starts, and stops, and sighs. Serena resumes gently rubbing her back and Bernie reaches out to tightly hold on to her other hand, the physical bond keeping them together. "I don't want to lose you Serena" she finally sobs through the tears that continue to fall.

"Why on earth would you lose me?" Serena looks confused and concerned. "I care about you. I really care about you. Not even sex can get in the way of that." The two women share a laugh, and Bernie finally feels the fear that she's been feeling all day begin to fade away. Bernie looks down at her hands in her lap,

"When you weren't there this morning, I thought…I thought you regretted it." Serena sighs,

"I'll be honest; I didn't know whether it was the right thing. I was concerned about it but I didn't regret it. It was…amazing. _You_ are amazing. I just…you know, I have a baby to think about now. It would be unfair of me to expect you to enter this relationship when there's soon going to be three of us." Bernie now looks back at her in bewilderment.

"Are you kidding me? I haven't even met this child and I bloody love it! Because he or she is yours, and you're amazing. You were a great Mum to Elinor and you will be to this one too. I love you." Serena smiles and without hesitation replies,

"I think I love you too" and the smile spreads to Bernie's face before the two share a deep and emotional kiss and lay back in each other's' arms on the sofa. Bernie holds Serena tightly and lovingly, as she realises it's all going to be ok after all.

 **Well there we go then, that were nice weren't it.**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


	6. Secrets

**Alright, so this one is kinda short but also kinda necessary. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up within a few days so hopefully that makes up for it. I'm not overly chuffed with how this one came out but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. I promise future chapters will be better and longer. Enjoy! x**

"Urghhh!" Bernie is in the en suite bathroom when she hears Serena's groan, and re-enters the bedroom to see the woman tugging off a red blouse which she throws to the side where it lands among a sea of other discarded clothes. She circles round behind the other woman, placing her hands on top of her shoulders and gently kissing her neck, allowing Serena to lean back into the other woman's embrace.

"What's the matter chuck?" Bernie asks sweetly, wrapping her arms around Serena's topless body. Serena sighs and places her hands on her stomach where there is an ever expanding bump.

"I have nothing to wear! Nothing fits over the bump anymore." As she says this her eyes glisten with emotion, "oh and why the heck am I crying over this?" She huffs and sits on the bed, folding her arms above her stomach. Bernie smiles and sits next to her, gently rubbing her back.

"You're ok" she reassures her gently, "it's just hormones, and this is good, it just means our baby's growing well." Serena feels her breath catch in her throat and turns to face Bernie, her face portraying shock. Bernie is suddenly confused and worried that she's said something wrong, which wouldn't be unusual given the recent hormonal outbursts. Serena takes both of the other woman's hands in hers,

"You said _our_ " she explains, and Bernie's eyes widen in realisation. "Our baby" Serena repeats, her smile almost reaching her ears. The blonde blushes a little before she wraps her arms tightly around the other woman, burying her face in fluffy brown hair. "I think we should tell people." Serena announces after a few minutes, and both women lean back to look at each other.

"Yeah?" Bernie questions, needing conformation to check she heard right. Serena nods and keeps smiling,

"Yeah. I'm obviously not going to be able to hide for much longer" she states, gesturing to the pile of discarded shirts and blouses on the floor in front of them, "I think I'm ready for people to know." Bernie smiles yet again and can barely control the feeling of pride that is near bursting from her chest.

The two women walk on to AAU, both feeling the ever growing excitement in their souls with the secret they will soon get to share. Serena eventually settled on a floral blouse which was always slightly too big for her, but still doesn't completely conceal the secret. She keeps her coat on, wrapped around herself as the pair walk over to the nurses station and gather the current staff.

"Everyone, can we just have your attention for a moment, it won't take long." Bernie calls out, standing close to her girlfriend. As the nurses and doctors all gather Serena feels a knot form in her stomach; she is worried about what everyone will think. It's not often the middle aged, newly proclaimed lesbian announces she's pregnant. However, she looks up at her Bernie stood next to her so protectively, and feels a rush of confidence. As everyone stands around and stares at the pair, Serena simply removes her coat, handing it to Bernie, and says,

"I'm pregnant." There is a surge of gasps and whispering as she continues to explain, "I'm due in about 4 and a half months, and although she's not biologically related I hope that Bernie's going to be a big part of the baby's life." She stops for a moment to smile up again at the other woman before adding, "Oh yeah, and drinks at Albie's later to celebrate!" There is a brief round of applause before everyone begins to get back to work, and there are a number of people who come up to say congratulations as they go. Serena breathes a sigh of relief and sits down at the nurses station before Fletch comes up to her with open arms and great big smile.

"Congratulations!" he beams, squeezing her in a hug, "I'm really really happy for you Serena. You did have me worried for a minute there though, I thought you were going to tell me that our Bernie is actually a Bernard and he'd got you up the duff!" He adds, earning himself a pretty big elbow to the ribs from the aforementioned Major. Serena laughs out loud and says,

"Well man or no man she's still got bigger balls than you Fletch, and either way she's going to be a much better dad than Robbie ever would have been." Fletch laughs and then smiles sympathetically,

"I assume he doesn't want to be involved?" Serena replies with a shake of her head and shrugs her shoulders,

"I don't really mind, it's probably easier this way." Before standing up from her seat and stating "Anyway, I best go and get some work done. Can't sit around here talking babies all day. Shall we see you in the pub later?" to which Fletch replies with a nod.

Serena sits down at her desk, as does Bernie at her own, and opens up her calendar.

"Oh!" she exclaims, suddenly remembering, "I have an appointment with Mr T in ten minutes, I almost forgot!" Bernie suddenly looks concerned, before the other woman explains, "nothing to worry about, just routine blood tests" and then heads out the office, but not before planting a kiss in Bernie's unruly blonde curls.

The rest of the day goes by without much excitement. Serena trades in her normal scrubs for a pair of maternity size ones and actually finds that they're much more comfortable and resigns to living in them for the next few months. One of their elderly patients who overheard Serena's announcement sits knitting all day and eventually presents Serena with a beautiful woollen hat in different pastel coloured stripes. She also gets a visit from Raf at lunch time, who has obviously heard the news from Fletch, and once he starts crying she does too and then they can't stop. The end of the shift comes and they head across the road to Albie's where Serena secures a table big enough for the group, and heads up to the bar to order two pints of orange juice for the pair, and a bottle of wine for the table – because after all it is a celebration. Morvern, Fletch, and Raf are the first ones to arrive, all greeting the pair with hugs and sitting down to chat and share stories of their day. Sacha, Essie and Dom turn up next, congratulating Serena and joining in with the chat. Sacha then begins to relive some of the stories of his children which Bernie contributes to with the few stories she has of Cameron and Charlotte from when she wasn't on tour. Zosia and Ollie arrive with messages of congratulations from Darwin, and even Ric turns up from wherever he's been all day. He tells Serena that there's already a bet going around the hospital about whether he's the father and Bernie almost snorts her drink out of her nose at the thought. A couple of hours later and everyone is high on the good news and the buzz of alcohol. Serena feels a light vibration in her coat pocket and pulls her phone out to see the caller ID. She quickly excuses herself and pops outside to take the call. Ten minutes later Serena is still outside so Bernie decides to go and check on her. She heads out into the beer garden where she finds the other woman sitting in the cold on a bench with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Hey" she greets her softly, trying to keep the worry from her voice. Serena turns to look at her and tries to swallow the sob that eventually escapes from her throat. Bernie wraps her arms around the other woman, afraid to find out what on earth that phone call was about. After a few minutes of breathless, gasping sobs she softly asks, "Serena, can you tell me what's going on?" The brunette takes a moment to slow her breathing and sniffles before explaining, in a voice that is barely audible.

"That was Mr T. He's had the results of my blood test and he's booked me in for an urgent scan tomorrow."


End file.
